Lindores Abbey Distillery has announced the launch of its first bottle in an annual series of limited releases, celebrating its historic links with the abbey at Thiron-Gardais, a small town in the Perche region, southwest of Paris. The bottling celebrates 833 years of historic links between Lindores Abbey and l’Abbaye de Tiron.

The spirit has been matured in red wine barriques, bourbon casks, and French new oak casks taken from trees grown in the Thiron-Gardais area. Lindores Abbey Distillery places great importance on environmental preservation and has arranged for oak trees to be planted around Thiron-Gardais to replace those used to create the casks for the French bottling.

The design of the bottle pays homage to the columns and architecture of both abbeys while the cork bears the inscription “May Our Roots Be Forever Intertwined,” the same message which appears in French on a plaque gifted to the French village by the McKenzie-Smith family on a visit to Thiron.

Drew McKenzie Smith, managing director and founder of Lindores Abbey Distillery, commented: “This release is the first in a series of annual limited bottlings which will celebrate the links between our two great abbeys. Without the monks of Thiron-Gardais and the knowledge they passed on to the monks who founded Lindores, the story of whisky as we know it today could be entirely different. We want to pay homage to our unique history and create a wonderful spirit which showcases the mastery of the Lindores’ team’s skills.”

For more information about the new release, visit Lindores Abbey Distillery’s website.